Friday, March 29, 2013

A Visit to the Theater

I tagged along on the girls' field trip last week to see Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs performed at UK (that would be the University of Kentucky). It was a wonderful performance and the hundreds of elementary school children in the theater loved it. 








The Big Bad Wolf had no luck with Red so he went looking for something else to eat.  (Enter The Three Little Pigs)


Goldilocks made an appearance too, not sure what that was about.














Bristle Blocks

I was at a client's house a couple of weeks ago and noticed their kids were playing with these blocks that I remember playing with when I was a child, but they were way cooler than the set I had (especially since half of mine had been chewed on by our dog).  I couldn't even remember the name of the blocks but I asked my clients and of course found them on Amazon (love that website).  These are so great for sensory play.  It's amazing to me how many toys from days gone by were really good for kids with sensory issues.

 I bought a box and put the blocks in a bucket and just left them in the living room.  It didn't take long for my kids to find them and dig the box out of the recycle bin to see what in the world you do with these things.


Love this picture-Chloe's ship is attacking Essie's ship




Essie & her robot

AJ & his spaceship

No idea what this is but its cool

You'll notice from all the different outfits that my kids have played with these for days.  Love it!


Thursday, March 28, 2013

And Then There Were 5

When we bought the ducks, the agreement was I would only keep 5 females, since the reason we got them was for eggs.  Well, the day finally came when my friend came to pick up the other 10. We first had to divide them by gender.  Do you know how to tell the difference between a drake and a duck?  My girls do!



You can hear the duck in the background because they were not happy to be separated from their friends. 

Essie helped put twisty ties (the poor man's leg band) on the drakes

YAY, a duck...how can I tell?



Packed up and ready to go

And then there were 5

They've been a bit shell shocked today.  I'm sure the hawk attack didn't help.  I guess when you reduce a flock by 2/3, the hawks find it much more appealing.  I was outside at the time and saw it swoop and then fly over my head.  I heard the ducks quacking so I ran to the garden and there were feathers flying.  The hawk was the same size as the ducks so I'm assuming that was the reason I still have 5.  One of the ducks seemed a bit ruffled but no blood so no one is the worse for wear.  I'm shocked a hawk would go after an almost fully grown duck.  Ducks grow to 90% of the adult size in the first 8 weeks of life, which for these ducks will be Monday.  It's been crazy to see how fast they have grown.  They don't usually start laying eggs until 17-20 weeks so we still have a bit to go on that front. The finale count for those wondering was 8 females and 7 males.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

A Love Note


We received a love note tonight from our daughter Essie.  She even made an envelope to put it in.  Warmed my heart so much, I just had to share it. She has become so much more expressive with her love for us in the last few weeks.  I think the fact that she has now been with us longer than she was without us has made all the difference for her. Reciprocated love is such a reward for adoptive parents and something I do not take for granted.

Its a Rainy Day!


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Art Gallary

The kids' school hosted an Art Gallery tonight to exhibit the various art projects that all the children have been working on this semester. I think we may have a couple of budding artists in the family!

Chloe's leaf is next to her left ear; Essie's leaf is next to her left hand

Chloe's elephant is on the top row above her;
Essie's elephant is on the top row above her

AJ's painting of mountains


Duck Video of the Day

What happened to spring?  Its freezing here today and its been snowing off and on.  Crazy March weather!


Monday, March 18, 2013

Duck Update

The ducks are 6 weeks old today. Ducks gain 90% of their body weight in the first 8 weeks of life so we are almost there. 

Sorry I can't get a picture of them looking at me.  These ducks are such scaredy-cats that they flee anytime anyone comes near.





Sunday, March 10, 2013

Four Years Home

On Friday, we celebrated the girls' 4th Gotcha Day.  We cannot believe it has been 4 years since we made the long voyage to Ethiopia to welcome Essie & Chloe into our family.  If you want to walk down memory lane and read about our first days together, click here

March 8, 2009

We celebrated with Chinese food (the girls' favorite) and a cake

March 8, 2013


Oops


Friday, March 1, 2013

Here Ducky, Ducky, Ducky



Bribery with food always gets them


Look at the feathers on the wings & no more down on the chests.




The Proctors Visit to the "Farm"

The ducklings had some special visitors last weekend, our friends the Proctor family.  Kenny (pictured below) is in the same class as the girls this year and we've enjoyed getting to know the whole family more.  The family had some wilty lettuce to share with the ducklings, which they greatly enjoyed. 


Gracie

Chloe & Olivia

(not a Proctor)

Ken and Christina